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Palaeoceanographic Changes in the Northern Benguela Upwelling System over the last 245.000 Years as Derived from Planktic Foraminifera Assemblages

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The South Atlantic in the Late Quaternary

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Abstract

Planktic foraminiferal records from six sediment cores recovered from the Walvis Ridge and the northern Cape Basin indicate changes in the spatial and temporal variability in the degree of upwelling during the past 245 kyrs. During periods of intensified upwelling, northern Benguela upwelling cells were displaced westward and increased in size, covering areas at least three times larger than present day. Distinct upwelling events were recognized during oxygen isotopic stage (OIS) 2 and 3 and oxygen isotopic event (OIE) 4.2, 5.2,5.4,5.53,6.2,6.4/6.5, and 7.4. During OIS 3, OIE 5.4 and 7.4 the maximum upwelling was recorded around the Namibia/Walvis Bay cells and during OIE 3.1, 5.4, and 6.2 at around Walvis Bay/Lüderitz. During OIE 5.1 and 5.51, upwelling was at its minimum. A good correlation between upwelling events in the northern Benguela region and increases in equatorial seasonality implies that both regions respond to the same mechanism, i.e. probably changes in the trade wind intensity.

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  1. Bundesanstät für Geowissenschaften und Rohstoffe (BGR), Stilleweg 2, 30655, Hannover, Germany

    A. N. A. Volbers

  2. DGO - UMR 5805 EPOC, Université Bordeaux I, Avenue des Facultés, 33405, Talence, France

    J. Giraudeau

  3. Fachbereich Geowissenschaften, Universität Bremen, Klagenfurter Strasse, 28359, Bremen, Germany

    A. N. A. Volbers, H. -S. Niebler, H. Schmidt & R. Henrich

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  1. DFG Research Center Ocean Margins, University of Bremen, Klagenfurter Straße, 28359, Bremen, Germany

    Gerold Wefer , Stefan Mulitza  & Volker Ratmeyer ,  & 

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Volbers, A.N.A., Niebler, H.S., Giraudeau, J., Schmidt, H., Henrich, R. (2003). Palaeoceanographic Changes in the Northern Benguela Upwelling System over the last 245.000 Years as Derived from Planktic Foraminifera Assemblages. In: Wefer, G., Mulitza, S., Ratmeyer, V. (eds) The South Atlantic in the Late Quaternary. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-18917-3_26

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-18917-3_26

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